Who Is Isabela Moner? Meet ‘Dora The Explorer’ Live Action Star

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” brings a live-action version of Dora the Explorer to the movie screen, and Isabela Moner is the one who gets to play the famed cartoon character. Before heading to see the Nick flick this Friday, get to know a little more about Moner.

Born to a Peruvian mother and a father from Louisiana, Moner grew up in a Spanish-speaking Cleveland household with her older brother Jared, 22, and younger brother Gyo, 15. The 18-year-old Ohio native started working at the tender age of 6 in community theater, but by age 10, she was already singing on the Broadway stage opposite Ricky Martin in the musical “Evita.”

The actress got a chance to sing on the big screen in “Instant Family,” for which she wrote the track “I’ll Stay,” and will sing in “Dora” as well.

After making her mark on the Great White Way, Moner soon moved to television, where she has done a lot of work for Nickelodeon. The kids network first hired her for another “Dora the Explorer” project called “Dora and Friends: Into the City!” where Moner voiced Kate. She also starred as CJ Martin for two years in the live-action comedy, “100 Things to Do Before High School” and appeared in the TV movies “Splitting Adam” and “Legends of the Hidden Temple.”

“Dora and the Lost City” isn’t her first time on the big screen. She made her movie debut in 2013’s “The House that Jack Built,” and more recently, she has appeared in “Transformers: The Last Knight” and “Instant Family.”

Though she graduated high school and seems to have a thriving acting career, the actress is continuing her education. She is studying psychology at community college.

Most important for fans to know, however, is that she is a “Dora the Explorer” fan. She actually worried that the movie might just be a cash grab. “It’s natural to wonder if what you love is going to be corrupted just to make money off us fans,” she told the Washington Post. “I was skeptical about what Hollywood would do to something that was special to me.”

Luckily, Moner believes the movie is true to what everyone loved about the original series.

“Dora and the Lost City of Gold” hits theaters Friday.